Scheller College of Business officially welcomed its incoming class of first-year and transfer students at its time-honored Opening Bell tradition, August 28, 2018. The event, sponsored by Acuity Brands, included a welcome from Dean Maryam Alavi where she encouraged students to tap into the unique Tech Square ecosystem, find their career path, and learn how to learn.

Kurt Lovell, Senior Vice President from Acuity Brands, offered three memorable tips:

• Go surfing: step outside of your comfort zone and gain exposure to new things
• Date a lot: meet folks and tap into the Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, innovators, and more that are at the doorstep of Scheller College. Be deliberate about building your network. Take time each month to sit down and “date/network.”
• To hell with Georgia: Don’t worry about your competition. Focus on the learning and developing your core competencies, and the rest will come. Make your own path.

The students participated with Scheller College of Business ambassadors, faculty, and staff in a series of ice breakers designed to “get-to-know” Georgia Tech traditions and classmates.

Sam Medinger, current Scheller College Student, encouraged his newest classmates to take full advantage of everything the College has to offer and shared some of his insights from his past four years at Scheller College with the group including: take risks, be genuine, love yourself then love others, and work hard. He quoted Assistant Director of Undergraduate Career Education Stan Broome by reminding the room “it’s not about what you know, or who you know – it’s about who knows you,” when talking about the importance of building a strong network. He added advice to utilize your advisors, find great mentors, remember your name is your brand, get to know your professors, set goals and hold yourself accountable – and of course, go to football games and enjoy the Georgia Tech College experience.

Scheller College alumnus and CEO of Inspire Brands Paul Brown (BSMGT 1989) took the stage noting, “It’s a wonderful time for you to be where you are. You are in a place where you will play an active role in the future of business.” He shared the following advice: work smart; go outside of your comfort zone and expose yourself to new opportunities, as myopia is one of the biggest barriers to success; and failure is not an option – it is a fact of life – so learning how to deal with it and how to pick yourself back up and continue moving is the determinant to success as many lessons are learned through failed attempts including courage, determination, creativity, and empathy. He then proceeded to share five leadership lessons from one of his favorite books/movies Moneyball:

• Play your own game, not your competitor’s game
• Redefine the problem to get to the heart of what it is by asking why
• Embrace diversity of thought, background, and expertise
• Have courage of conviction: transformational change doesn’t happen immediately, “you have to crack a lot of eggs” but hold true to your path
• Always remember, it’s a team sport

And with that, the incoming class was empowered and ready to embark on its learning journey at Scheller College and beyond.